Tyson Tindol, 16 (left), a junior from Iola High School, and Cole Widder, 14, a freshman from Wylie High, go through pass protection drills during the Colt McCoy Football Camp on Tuesday at Abilene Christian University.

Victor Cristales/Reporter-News
Colt McCoy (right) keeps things lighthearted during his football camp at Abilene Christian University on Tuesday.

Colt McCoy came home Tuesday.

The former Jim Ned and University of Texas standout and current Cleveland Browns starting quarterback was at Abilene Christian University's Wally Bullington Practice Facility for the first day of his two-day youth football camp.

McCoy wowed the gathering of more than 100 as he and his staff — including his father and former Graham head coach, Brad, and younger brother, Case — put the campers through drills to sharpen their football skills.

And McCoy was an active participant, throwing and catching passes as well as playing defensive back when called upon. He also took the time to pose for a picture with each of the campers.

Putting together his first football camp wasn't easy. But with a lot of help, he was pleased with the final product.

"It takes a pretty good amount of time," McCoy said. "I really commend my coaches and all the people who helped me to put this together and all the sponsors. Because it does take a lot of time for it to run smoothly. For the first time, we didn't know how many would make it.

"And I appreciate all the campers for coming out. I'm really glad to be having a camp, and spending some time with these kids has been a lot of fun."

And McCoy is glad to be home as well.

"It feels good," he said. "I'm thankful to ACU for letting us use their facilities and just proud to be home."

But for McCoy and the campers, it was more than football.

"Over the next couple of days, we really want to be specific about teaching them the fundamentals of football," he said. "Not only do I want to teach them the fundamentals, but taking home the second aspect of playing football — character development and teaching them how to be better young men.

"And that's kind of the whole idea of the football camp. To teach them fundamentals, but also to teach them to be good young men in the two days that we have them."

And the kids were determined to impress the teacher. Footballs were zipping around the practice field as aspiring quarterbacks, receivers and running backs were put through their paces. Quarterbacks delivered perfect spirals and receivers extended themselves to haul in the football.

"It's fun. It's a cool camp," said J.T. Cary, 14, a freshman at Wylie attending his second football camp this summer break. "I've learned a lot out here. There's some drills I've been doing that I haven't seen before."

"It's awesome, said running back David Earles, 13, an eighth-grader at Craig Middle School. "I'm learning the basics of defense and offense and that should help me with my position."

"The best thing about (the camp) is trying to get better at what you want to be — quarterback or another position," said Jeremiah Alonzo, 15, a wide receiver hopeful from AHS attending his first camp.

For McCoy, who will conduct another camp in Austin later in the week, it was a chance to have some fun before getting back to the business of pro football.

For now, the NFL is in limbo as the owners and players remain unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement with camps scheduled to open in less than two weeks.

The timing of a settlement could be critical for McCoy and the Browns, who were 5-11 last season and have a new staff led by head coach Pat Shurmer.

As St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator last season, Shurmer helped 2010 No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford get the team within one win of the playoffs.

McCoy, who took over the Browns' starting quarterback job in Week 6, goes into the season as the team's starter. He said he is staying in shape for when the time comes to go back to work.

"I've been training every day, keeping my body in shape physically and mentally just waiting for this lockout to end," he said. We have high hopes, but we really need to get back to our coaches because we've got a whole new staff on offense and defense and pretty much our whole organization has changed.

"We've got a lot of work to do, we know that, and we're ready to pull our load this offseason. We're just ready to get back."